The final of the 2020 Under-20 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships came down to Canada and Russia in Ostrava, Czech Republic on January 5th with the Canadian coming out on top by a score of 4-3. Meanwhile, Sweden captured the bronze medal with a narrow 3-2 victory over Finland in the third-place matchup which was the same result when the two teams met in group play earlier in the tournament. Finland entered the championships as the defending champion.
Russia made it to the final after an exciting come-from-behind 5-4 win over Sweden in the semifinals while Canada blanked Finland 5-0 in their final-four showdown. Sweden’s Samuel Fagemo, a 2019 second-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings, led the way in scoring with with eight goals and five helpers for 13 points in seven contests. Nineteen-year-old Rasmus Sandin, of the Toronto Maple Leafs was named best defenceman of the tournament as the Swede finished it with a position-high three goals and seven assists for 10 points.
Sandin was also named to the event’s All-Star Team along with fellow blue liner Alexander Romanov of Russia. Joel Hofer of Canada was named the All-Star Team’s goaltender while the forwards were Fagemo along with Barrett Hayton and Alexis Lafrenière of Canada. Lafrenière was also named the tournament’s most valuable player as he notched four goals and six assists for 10 points in five outings. The 18-year-old Lafrenière of Saint-Eustache, Quebec currently plays with Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and missed two games for Canada due to injury.
Lafrenière was named the Rookie of the Year in the QMJHL last season and also made the league’s first All-Star Team as he racked up 32 goals and 48 assists for 80 points in 60 games and added four goals and seven points in seven playoff contests. He then followed up with 105 points in his second junior campaign on 37 goals and 68 assists in 61 games with another nine goals and 23 points in 13 postseason appearances. The 6-foot-1-inch, 192 lb left-winger is expected to go first overall in the 2020 NHL Draft in June and also captained Canada to the gold medal at the 2018 Under-18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
Canada captured their leading 18th World Junior gold medal and 32nd overall against Russia at this year’s event with fourth-liner and Los Angeles Kings’ prospect Akil Thomas scoring the game-winner with 3:58 remaining in the third period. The goal, which was Thomas’s first and only of the tournament, capped off an impressive comeback as Russia held a 3-1 lead just six minutes and 42 seconds earlier. It was the fifth time in nine tries that the Canadians have beaten Russia for the gold medal since 1996 and it came after being thrashed 6-0 by the Russians in group play a week earlier.
The loss means Russia hasn’t won a gold medal at the prestigious event since 2011 and the nation has now lost four straight finals since then. It was an eventful tournament for Canada and head coach Dale Hunter as it was the country’s first medal since taking gold in 2018. They finished sixth place at home last year after losing to Finland in the quarterfinals. In addition, their 6-0 defeat to Russia in the group stage was Canada’s worst loss in the 44-year history of the tournament.